The Big Switch
by Kenny-staley-stuff
Summary: Things change all the time, sometimes for better, sometimes for the worst. Could you cope if something as huge as your species changed? Sometimes you may not have a choice.
1. Chapter 1 The changes start here

**The Big Switch**

Chapter 1 – The changes start here

Saturday is a town centre's busiest day. Kids are out of school and many adults are off work. Yet small alleyways, with nothing but the rubbish of the shops seem to be always near to empty. Near to.

"This guy's wasted!"

"How much d'you reckon he's had?"

A teenage couple crouched over the unconscious body they'd found lying between two wheelie bins.

"Far too much to drink."

"It's not even noon…"

The couple were aged 15 and 16, and the person they'd discovered didn't look any older than the two of them.

The older of the two leaned in close to the guy on the floor. "He's still breathing…"

As these words were said, the body stirred. His eyelids twitched and his fingers moved. The teenage couple quickly left the alley, in fear that he might be a dangerous drunk.

He heaved himself to his feet, using the bins for support. His head ached and he felt dizzy. Whilst trying to steady himself, he looked down at the floor. Did it seem further away than normal? As if he'd somehow got taller…

Sonic looked at his hands, and then scanned his whole body. Fear was building up inside him as he slowly reached up to feel his own face. Terror ran through his veins as he realised what had happened.

Sonic the hedgehog had become a human.

His head pounded, which made it harder for Sonic to get his head around what was going on and why.

He tried to remember everything before waking up to the sound of teenagers accusing him of being a drunk.

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"The readings are off the scale!"

Tails panicked as he flew the Tornado towards the interference on his scanner. Sonic was riding in one of the back seats. He leaned forwards to see the screen.

"We're getting close Tails," he said, "Bring her in for a soft landing."

"Have you figured out what it is yet?" Amy asked. She'd been keeping quiet from behind until now.

"Not yet," Tails replied, "I guess we won't find out until we land."

As the Tornado made its landing, the trio were surprised to find three familiar faces already there: Shadow, Rouge and Knuckles. They were crowded around a small patch of land, which had light seeping out from beneath the soil.

"What's going on?" Sonic asked, approaching the group.

"The master emerald led me here." Knuckles said.

"Shadow says it's a chaos emerald." Rouge answered.

"It's more than one." Shadow muttered.

Amy looked at the glowing soil.

"Did someone bury them here?"

Rouge stared at her, "Why would anyone want to bury such gorgeous gems?"

"Should we dig them up?" Tails asked the group. Sonic nodded, and the 6 got to work searching amongst the glowing soil, trying to unearth the precious emeralds.

"I found them."

The group crowded around Knuckles. Sure enough, there lying in the dirt were three of the seven chaos emeralds, all glowing with a bright light. It appeared as if they reacted to the sunlight, as the light got bigger and brighter. The six were blinded as they felt the ground disappear from beneath them.

Sonic could no longer see his friends. He felt as though his body was being pulled through the air at high speed. He felt a tingle shoot up his arms, and before he knew what was going on, an unbearable pain surged through every vein in his body. He screamed, unsure if anyone was even around to hear him, to help him…

When he finally saw his surroundings again, he was falling, falling with no way to save himself. The last thing he remembered was hitting his head, and allowing unconsciousness befall him.

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Sonic walked to the end of the alleyway.

'I feel so…tall,' he thought, 'this is going to take some getting used to.'

The alley led to a busy town street, full of shops. People were so busy with the hustle of Saturday life that no one noticed the blue haired teen standing by the alleyway. He stood scared and alone, unsure of what he should do.

'Where are my friends?' he thought, 'Why am I here? In human form?'

Then a terrifying thought struck him.

'Are the chaos emeralds here?'

(There's an illustration up on my deviantart. Link for my deviantart is on my profile if you're interested.)


	2. Chapter 2 The science geek & Lord emo

**The Big Switch**

Chapter 2 – The Science Geek and Lord Emo

"How are you not scared?"

Tails looked up at the seemingly calm Shadow, who had chosen to ignore his question. Now in human form, Shadow was now significantly taller than Tails.

Shadow's face showed a slightly angered expression. Tails, filled with fear, followed Shadow down the empty street, having no one else to turn to in this time of crisis.

"Shadow, where are we going anyway?"

"No one said you had to follow me."

"This is strange…Is everyone else here too?"

Shadow let out an anger filled sigh, "I don't care about the others."

"But…they might be able to help us."

"This is disgusting. Reduced to living in the body of a human…"

"I fear it may be the same for the others…"

"I don't care about the others. I just want to find a way back…fast."

Tails fell silent. He thought back to what had happened before he had woke up in this world and found Shadow. The chaos emeralds…Could that be the reason they had been transported here?

"Shadow?"

"What?"

"Do you think…I mean, is it possible that when the chaos emeralds were exposed, they somehow reacted with each other to bring us here…and in this form?"

"Mmm…I guess."

"Then I guess it's the key to getting back."

"I'll find them. I won't stay this way for a second longer than I need to be."

"I hope Sonic and the others are Ok…"

Shadow filled with rage, "Is that all you care about? Who says they're even here? What's more important right now is what happens to us! So shut up about the god dam others!"

Tails cowered down to Shadow's rage. He nodded silently, but still worried for his friends.

The two continued silently down the streets. In the distance, the noise of a busy town centre echoed over the rooftops. The pair weren't far away. The streets they were in were empty except for a few people hanging about on street corners.

Tails was still thinking about how it was even possible for the two of them to be there.

"We must have fell through a temporary hole in space created by the emeralds, landing us here in this dimension…It must've altered our DNA somehow to fit in with the natural balance of this world-"

"Check out the science geek!"

Tails turned around to look at the person who had interrupted him. It was an older teen wearing a hoodie, seemingly the leader of his gang. Typical chavs.

Tails turned back the way he was walking, choosing to ignore the remark. He was surprised to see that Shadow had begun to approach the gang.

"Do you honestly have nothing better to do that sit here on a street corner picking on random strangers?" Shadow said to them.

The leader of the gang laughed, "What? Now lord emo is going to preach to us?"

"You humans are all alike. Pathetic. Can't get a life of your own. Can't make a worthwhile reason for existence. Is that why you're here?"

"Shadow!" Tails yelled from behind, "Just leave it!"

"You could all drop dead now, and no one would care about a few dead-beats like yourselves."

The gang lunged at Shadow, ready to fight, but before they even had a chance to attack, Shadow's palms began to glow with an eerie light as he sent them flying backwards.

Tails watched in awe. 'Even as a human,' he thought, 'Shadow has the power to harness chaos control!'

The gang lay about the streets, unconscious and wounded. Not caring for what ha had done, Shadow continued to walk down the street as if nothing had happened. Tails had no choice but to follow. Once again, they walked on in silence.

(Illustration up on my Deviant Art)


	3. Chapter 3 The fresh new beauties

**The Big Switch**

Chapter 3 – The fresh new beauties

Rouge glowed with pride. She loved the attention she was getting from the locals. Heads turned to stare at the two new girls in town, or more specifically, at Rouge's revealing outfit.

Amy, however, wasn't pleased. She looked down at her human arms, and reached to find her once pointed ears were no longer sitting on top of her head. Strangely enough, she wasn't as scared as she thought she would be. Amy felt more…upset.

Normally, in times of confusion and changes for the worst, Sonic was always nearby to reassure her. He was no where to be found.

Amy watched as Rouge blew a kiss to a person walking by.

"You don't care do you?"

Rouge turned to Amy, "About what?"

"About the situation we're in!"

"What are you talking about? We're here in this world and the locals adore us!"

"We're human! Do you realise that yet?"

"That guy's giving you the eye."

"Well I'm giving him the shoulder."

"Cold…"

"I wish Sonic were here…He would know what to do…"

"Forget him, we could have our pick on any of the guys here!"

Amy opened her mouth to protest, but decided it was probably best just to leave it. She was appalled. Through this hard time, the only one to see it through with her was Rouge, who didn't even care.

'We were all there,' Amy thought, 'Sonic might be here too.'

Amy looked up to find Rouge walking off arm in arm with someone she just met.

"Rouge! You can't just leave me!"

Rouge didn't answer, she just simply waved Amy off over her shoulder.

Amy slumped down on a nearby bench, almost in tears.

'What am I going to do now?'

Amy now felt more upset than ever. She preferred being with Rouge to being totally alone.

She scanned the busy town square. It was strange. People had grouped off. A group of people dressed in black were sitting around smoking while another group were skateboarding between busy crowds.

It was then that Amy saw him.

She saw a teen with hair dyed a cool blue. Like her, he too was alone. This made her feel depressed. The teen reminded her of Sonic, the shade of blue was just right.

'What if Sonic doesn't like me like this?'

Amy stood up.

'What if that is Sonic?'

The teen was on the other side of the square. It would be difficult for her to get to him, and it seemed as though he was headed for one of the side streets.

Amy made up her mind. She quickly dodged between people, making her way towards the blue haired teen.

'Please,' Amy pleaded, 'please, let this person be him.'

(Piccy up on deviantart! Sorry for the long wait!))


	4. Chapter 4 The first emerald

**The Big Switch**

Chapter 4 - The first emerald

The energy's presence drew nearer. Knuckles trudged down the shop-filled streets trying to track it down. Under normal circumstances, the energy would be simple to pinpoint, but it was far from normal today. Even without the headache, Knuckles felt uncomfortable in his human form. He didn't exactly keep his troubles to himself, as he grunted in pain and mumbled to himself as he walked.

"I know this presence…"

No one paid attention though. Afraid to stand out from the crowd, they ignored the pained teen.

Knuckles followed his instincts to a small bar at the end of the road. Inside was a run down room, the tables were stained and the air smelt of cigarettes. At the back of the room were a few pool tables, where people were gambling. They were betting all sorts of items: money, watches, cigarettes… And that's when he saw it. Someone had bet a red chaos emerald.

Knuckles began to walk to the table when he heard a crunch beneath his shoe. As he moved his foot away, he saw a £50 note just sitting there on the floor. He picked it up before carrying on to the table. He eyed the emerald, wondering how to go about retrieving it without causing a scene.

"You wanna game?"

Knuckles looked up to see a guy holding a cue in his hands and a cigarette in his mouth. He was dressed in denim from head to toe, which was stained with black marks. He looked as though he was in his late 20's to early 30's, and was staring at Knuckles with disgust.

"Uh…" Knuckles was unsure of what to say, "Would it be possible for me to…look at that emerald? Just for a sec…"

"Can't touch the ruby unless you win red guy."

"But…You don't understand. That emerald has power you wouldn't believe-"

"Are you in or not?"

Knuckles grew frustrated with the guy. Trying not to let it show, he laid his £50 onto the table.

"I guess I'm in."

The fact that Knuckles had never played pool in his life before made his chances of actually winning very slim.

The guy clicked his fingers. Someone from the back of the bar came over to the table. He was bald, and wore a sleeveless black denim jacket. He held a pint of beer in one hand.

"This here's my doubles partner. Who's yours?"

"I am."

Knuckles turned around to find the voice. Approaching the table was a guy wearing a sleeveless trench coat and long striped red and black gloves. That voice…It sounded familiar.

"Shadow? Is that you?"

It was hard to say, being human made everyone unrecognisable from their own world.

"Yeah, it's me. I don't see why you don't just take the emerald by force."

"I don't want to make a scene in an unfamiliar world. We have no choice but to play."

Shadow mumbled something under his breath, which Knuckles couldn't make out.

"Fine. Let's get this over with."

* * *

The bar was silent as the last ball was pocketed. The uproar afterwards was deafening. Comments buzzed around the room as the best doubles team in town were forced to hand over the winnings. Unbeaten for seven years. No more. Beaten by beginners…

Shadow snatched up the chaos emerald.

"This world's crazy…" Shadow took a handful of money and walked out of the bar.

Knuckles looked at the faces of the two they'd just defeated, and was surprised at what he saw. They were smiling.

The bald player held out his hand, "That's the best game I've had in a while. Thanks."

Knuckles accepted the gesture, as the two of them locked in a firm handshake.

"My name's Bruce."

"I'm Jim." His partner said.

"My name's Knuckles."

"Knuckles? Strange name," Bruce said, "But listen mate, take your winnings, you deserve it."

"Yeah," Jim chipped in, "Maybe we could play again sometime, yeah?"

Knuckles smiled, "I'm not exactly from around here, but maybe if I'm in town someday…yeah…" Knuckles picked a cigarette out of the pile Shadow had left behind. "You smoke?"

"Yeah."

Knuckles pushed the pile of cigarettes towards the two of them.

"Good game."

(Illustration up on Deviant. Please look :D Sonic characters as manga humans!)


	5. Chapter 5 The Reunion

**The Big Switch**

Chapter 5 – The Reunion

Amy peeked around the corner of the deserted street. There in the road, the blue haired teen stood alone, completely still. For a moment, Amy just looked at the back of his head. Even if it turned out it wasn't him, she somehow felt better just to be near him.

He began to look around. Amy stepped back out of sight when he looked her way. She was a little nervous. If this person wasn't Sonic, he would think she was strange for following him. Then again, if it was Sonic, what would he think to her like this?

When she thought he was no longer looking, Amy dared another look. The teen had moved. He was no longer just feet away from her, but he was halfway down the street.

'He got there that quick?...Maybe...'

Before she had time to think anything else, the teen had sped back to his original spot with a look of relief on his face. It was as if he had run faster than sound. That was all Amy needed.

"Sonic!"

Amy ran out from her hiding place, arms outstretched, and flung herself at him. Unusually, he didn't resist like he normally would, he was just so happy to see a familiar face.

"Amy...I had no idea you were here."

She pulled back from him, "I was so scared, I didn't know where you were..."

"I didn't think anyone else was here but me. It's nice to see a friendly face," he looked Amy up and down, "Even if it under these strange conditions."

Amy turned away from Sonic's gaze, "I didn't think you would like me like this..."

"I'm just happy to see you," Sonic said, giving Amy a hug, "I don't care what species you are. Anyway, we're in the same boat here..."

"Maybe so, but you still look great."

"Amy...How did you find me?"

Amy's looked up above Sonic's green eyes, "Your hair, the shade of blue hasn't changed a bit. So when I saw you from a distance I had to take the chance. I had nothing to lose, Rouge had already left me alone...And then just now I saw you running, and there's only one guy I know with blue hair who runs that fast."

"I've gotta say, I was so relieved when I found out I still had my speed. I've lost my species, appearance so...wait; did you say that Rouge is here too?"

"Uh...yeah, but she ditched me for some guy she'd just met."

"Where is she?"

"What?! Why do you want to know where she is? Am I not good enough to keep you company? You need her too do you?"

"Amy..." Sonic sighed, "We're in this strange world, it's probably best for all of us if we stick together. If me, you and Rouge are all here, then maybe Knuckles, Tails and Shadow are too."

"Yeah...Ok, we should try to find them then. It won't be easy though. We don't know what they look like here."

"Where did you last see Rouge?"

Amy thought for a moment before answering.

"Umm...it was at the town square...but she could be anywhere by now."

"We should go there anyway and look around. Can you show me the way?"

"Sure!"

Amy took Sonic's hand and led him back the way she had followed him.

"Oh, and be on the lookout for the other 3 too." Sonic added.

* * *

They had been following him since he'd left the alley in which they had found him.

"Did you see that?"

The teen they had found 'drunk' had ran down the street faster than their eyes would let them see. The younger of the two clutched her boyfriend's hand.

"Ken...I'm scared. I think we've discovered something dangerous here..."

"It's Ok Sarah," Ken said, clutching Sarah's hand back, "He's with someone now, and they don't look dangerous..."

"But, they have special powers or something."

The couple watched as the teen left the scene with the girl he has talking to.

"We'll keep an eye on them. If it gets too weird, we'll alert the police."

(Piccy up on Deviantart!)


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